This inspection took place on the 8 June 2018 and was announced. This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered with the Care Quality Commission in March 2017.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and adults with physical disabilities. It specialises in providing support to people who require palliative care, although not exclusively so. At the time of our inspection four people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We have made one recommendation in this report. This was because staff did not receive formal one to one supervision from a senior staff member.

Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place and people told us they felt safe using the service. Risk assessments provided information about how to support people in a safe manner. There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs and robust staff recruitment procedures were in place. Staff had a good understanding about infection control issues and used protective clothing to help prevent the spread of infection. Although the service did not support anyone with medicines at the time of our inspection, systems were in place to do this in a safe manner if required.

The service carried out an assessment of people’s needs prior to the provision of care. This enabled the service to determine of it was a suitable care provider for each individual. Staff undertook an induction training programme on commencing work at the service and had access to regular on-going training to help them develop relevant skills and knowledge. Where people required support with meal preparation they were able to choose what they ate and drank. The service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It supported people to access health care professionals and staff were aware of what to do if a person faced a medical emergency.

People were supported by the same regular care staff so they were able to build good relationships. People were treated in a caring and respectful manner by staff and were supported to maintain their independence. The right to confidentiality was taken seriously by the service and staff understood the importance of this.

Care plans were in place which set out how to meet people’s individual needs and these were subject to review. During the inspection we found care plans did not cover end of life care, but these were reviewed in the following week to cover this information. The service worked closely with other agencies to meet people’s needs in relation to end of life care. The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint.

People and staff spoke positively about the registered manager. Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of support provided at the service. Some of these included seeking the views of people who used the service. The registered manager networked with other agencies to help develop their knowledge and to improve the quality of support provided to people.